My name is Meghan Johnson, my pronouns are she/they and I am a massage therapist, teacher, ceramicist, and herbalist in Berkeley, CA. I am white, queer, have Swedish and English ancestry, a settler living on ancestral homelands of Ohlone and Miwok land. I rent where I live and work, come from a middle class background, one of the first to attend college in my immediate family, and am unmarried and have no children. My self employment income meets my needs and wants but this year I have a goal of my income being being able to support me beyond paycheck to paycheck. I have savings for extracurricular spending and have a supportive family.
I share these details because I believe it is anti capitalist to not be mysterious about money and where we exist in the intersections of race and class is relevant to healing work. Knowing more about who I am and where I am from may inform whether or not you’d like to work together - and I want you to have an informed choice!
I moved to New Orleans from the Bay Area, CA in 2009. I attended Xavier University of Louisiana studying education and was a teacher for 5+ years. Finding massage as a way to alleviate stress and burn out, I slowly moved away from full time teaching and more toward healing arts by way of yoga, massage, and plant medicine. I completed a 200 hour Ayurvedic yoga teacher training program from the dhyana Center in Sebastopol the summer before attending a 675 hour massage therapy program at the Asheville School of Massage and Yoga in 2015. After building a beautiful massage practice and working with New Orleans community for 14 years, I moved back to the Bay to help family. I’m now based in Berkeley and planning trips to New Orleans to massage and stay connected with a city that has provided me so much!
Herbal medicine was always an interest while looking for help with my own anxiety, insomnia, digestive issues, and acne. Working with herbs helped me learn about my body and constitution and find the plant allies that best supported me. I dove deeper attending Samara School of Community Herbalism at the beginning of 2020. Beginning in 2022, I continued a plant education with the Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine. Working to build a reciprocal relationship with plants, honoring their medicine and lessons, I am continually expanding my knowledge of energetic and clinical applications of herbal medicine to offer specific and customizable blends for clients. Over the years, I’ve been able to offer support to friends and family with minor health ailments, managing stress, and acute illness and am available for booking mini consults (aka the Feelings Farmacy!). I’m always working to be in right relationship with the wisdom of plants by way of ethical buying practices and minimizing foraging on wild lands I’m unfamiliar with.
I believe in the power of self advocacy in our healing, but never while ignoring systems of oppression that are at the root of our illnesses to begin with; racism, misogny, transphobia, homophobia, capitalism, ablism, fatphobia just to name a few, are not harms that can be healed with herbs or massage alone. Working in healing must be alongside work that moves toward dismantling these systems.
That said, as our healthcare systems continue to fall short of holistic care, I am more and more interested in care provided within our communities but that works with medicines and approaches people are finding with their doctors. I am interested in having a wider knowledge of contraindications with plants that may interact with medications so that people are not constantly confronted with having to choose an ‘either/or’ approach when it comes to pharmaceuticals or ‘alternative’ healing. Both systems of medicine are powerful and can work together.
I am humbled in doing this work and honored to be on your care team! I aspire to have a client centered approach, so while I may or may not have ‘more’ information about anatomy, functional movement, pain relief, or plants, YOU are the expert on your body, your injuries, traumas, stories, and what you are seeking in your healing. I want you feeling better and want to work together to do that.
Please see below for my current protocols in my practice regarding minimizing risk of transmission of COVID19. I absolutely believe healing touch has a role in building a more equitable and just world as well as working through the grief and trauma of a pandemic. The below precautions are informed by epidemiologists and other massage therapy practices. They will certainly help reduce risk, but not eliminate it entirely. Even as we receive less guidance from government and a constant minimization of the pandemic, I’ve watched many clients’ mobility, energy, strength, and immunity change drastically since repeat covid infections. It is for this reason and honoring the asks of immuno compromised and disability justice community that I continue to do what I can to lower the risk of spreading germs.
as of 2024, I still wear a mask and suggest that you do, too but its not required for clients to wear a mask during their session
fans, and air purifier are on to add ventilation
3 clients maximum a day, typically with at least 10-30 minutes in between sessions for airing out and disinfecting
I am fully vaccinated by staying up to date with boosters and you must be too (or have medical reason for being unvaccinated)
I wipe down commonly touched surfaces with rubbing alcohol
In my personal life, I occasionally (rarely tbh) take calculated risks forgoing a mask at social events or indoor public areas. I test regularly, use nasal sprays, take vitamin d, and utilize other mitigation tools to lower the spread. Not only is asymtopmatic spread a continued threat for more vulnerable populations, but I continue to be diligent with my covid caution protocols because most all of my work is very physical and I want to stay healthy to continue to provide care to my community! I share all of this because I want you to have all the information you need to decide where to get a massage and for a larger context of the continued crisis of the pandemic and how I try to uphold my commitment to community care. I recommend following the People’s CDC for updated information about covid19.
Please reach out if you have any questions!